KATSUHIRO OTOMO’S AKIRA returning to UK Cinemas And To BLU RAY for the first time!!

“AKIRA IS THE DEFINITIVE ANIME CLASSIC.” – EMPIRE: THE 500 GREATEST MOVIES OF ALL TIME.

To coincide with the company’s 20th anniversary celebrations, in June 2011 Manga Entertainment will be releasing on Blu-ray, for the first time ever, the movie that started it all and defined the Manga brand as the world’s leading anime distributor – Katsuhiro Otomo’s classic Akira! Prior to the Blu-ray release, the film will also open at selected UK cinemas, giving fans the chance to see this “lavish animation extravaganza” (Variety) in all its big screen glory.

Universally acclaimed as one of the greatest anime features of all time and hailed as “a visionary, game-changing masterpiece” (News of the World), the film has been digitally restored and remastered in full HD with super dynamic “Hypersonic” audio especially for this long-awaited Blu-ray release. Acknowledged as a hugely influential and genre-defining anime, this is Akira as never seen or heard before. An unmissable treat for its established legion of admirers, this release is set to introduce Otomo’s masterpiece to a whole new generation of film fans.

Neo-Tokyo, 2019. The city is being rebuilt following the devastation of World War III. Kaneda and Tetsuo, two high school dropouts, stumble upon a secret government project to develop a new form of weaponry – telekinetic humans. Tetsuo learns of the existence of his ‘peer’, Akira, the project’s most powerful subject, and determines to challenge him…

Along with Laputa Castle In The Sky, Otomo’s Akira back in the 1990’s was mines as well as many Anime fans worldwide introduction into the fascinating world of Japanese Animation. Its a rare treat to catch a cinematic masterpeice on our big screens once again and do grab the chance if your local cinema will be screening this, see it before Hollywood destroys it with a sub standard poor 12A live action version’

“A remarkable technical achievement in every respect” (Variety) and packed from start to finish with “scintillating animated visuals” (Empire), Akira “moves with such kinetic energy that you’ll be hanging on for dear life” (Washington Post) and remains, 20 years on from its first UK release, “a landmark production that can be watched with equal satisfaction as a metaphorical psychodrama or as a sheer visual spectacular” (The Onion).

Akira (cert. 15) will open at selected UK cinemas on 17th June 2011 and will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on 27th June 2011. A special limited edition collectors’ SteelBook containing both the DVD and the Blu-ray disc will also be available from 27th June.